Sens Report Card: Your Turn

Neely4Life wrote:

RobbyJ wrote:I respectfully disagree. I'm fine with the way he is playing now.

The important this is next year, hopefully paired with Phillips, Volchenkov or Ohlund.

I would think a guy like Ohlund would be a perfect partner. But ya, IMO, Kuba has been solid all year and did have something like a 10 game point streak to start the year, plus he has missed something like 10 games hasnt he? 45 points in 72 games for a D man on a low scoring team, thats pretty impressive. He didnt do that the last 2 months.

If Kuba was in the lineup the entire year, they would be challenging for a playoff spot right now. Look no further to the 8 game roadie where Kuba was out, Sens got 1 point.

He set a new record for pts scored by a D-man in consectitive games. He was also one of the top scoring dman until he got injuried. I think he had a good season.

Senators Report Card 2008-09

Forwards:

Alfredsson, Daniel

Cap'n Clutch (No not me Alfie) Suffers a serious jaw injury and only missed on game! Wears a full face shield and doesn't miss a beat leading the team in points and Assists

Grade: A++

Comrie, Mike

He's fit right in coming back to the Sens and is providing an additional offensive threat. Being that he's been pushed down to the third line lowers his grade a bit

Grade: B-


Donovan, Shean

This guy is the perfect 4th line grinder, keeps his mouth shut even when he's a healthy scratch and doesn't deserve it and is signed to a perfect price tag. For his roll he fits perfectly.

Grade: A

Fisher, Mike

Mike always plays hard and is the exact type of player you want in the playoffs and truly showed his worth in the 07 Cup run. He struggled mightely under Hartsburgh and is finally starting to put up some points under Clouston on a line with Foligno and Shannon. Because of his dismal point production and price tag his grade is what it is.

Grade: C+

Foligno, Nick

Foligno was up and down from Bingo under both Paddock and Hartsburgh and is only now just catching fire under Clouston. Because of his poor showing to start the season his grade isn't as high as it could be. If we were just looking at the Clouston effect I'd give him an A+.

Grade: B

Heatley, Dany

It's amazing to me that Heatley can have a horrible year overall but still could end up with close to 40 goals and 80 points. This grade is based on what I know Heatley is capable of doing.

Grade: C-

Kelly, Chris

He is a coaches dream. He does a lot of little things right, kills penalties and finds himself in the right place at the right time. Because his scoring touch is lacking for a third liner his grade is lower than it could be.

Grade: B-

Neil, Chris

Neil's work ethic is up their near Fisher and since Grats left he's stepped right back into the fighting role without missing a beat. We can't afford to give him the pay raise he wants but for what he's brought this year he's been pretty good.

Grade: B

Regin, Peter

Too early to judge this prospect but he appears to need some more seasoning in Bingo before making the jump full time

Grade: unknown

Ruutu, Jarkko

Outside of his biting incident he's been exactly what he's billed as. You hate him if he's not on your team. Since I can't look past that totally classless biting his grade is lowered.

Grade: C-

Shannon, Ryan

This guy is like the little engine that could. He's been bounced around the league and been up and down from the minors so much over such a short career. It seems as though he's finally found a home on a line with Foligno and Fisher and may just be our Marty St. Louis Light

Grade: A+

Spezza, Jason

Spezza, like others, struggled early in the season but since the trade deadline I've noticed a more determined player on most nights and his point production is improving greatly as well. He's still prone to some serious defensive lapses and some lasy play so his grade is low.

Grade: C-

Winchester, Jesse

For a guy that insisted on a one-way deal he certainly didn't impress me in the offense department. I will give him props for fitting into his current roll to perfection though.

Grade: B-

Defense:

Bell, Brendan

He's been inconsistant. Going from Bingo to the Sens to healthy Scratch and back again.

Grade: B-

Campoli, Christopher

A young PMD with a lot of upside. He's impressed me with his abilities and has brought more to the team than I expected

Grade: A-

Kuba, Filip

He has exceeded expectations for me and is way better defensively than I could have expected for a PMD. He's certainly not the answer as a Stud #1 D man but for his roll he's been better than I thought.

Grade: A

Lee, Brian

I think it's too early to judge this guys career but for this season he's been average to poor with the odd bright spot. The thing is that includes his time in Bingo as well.

Grade: D+

Phillips, Chris

Chris started the year very badly and couldn't find a partner to gel with. He finally found his way back to Volchenkov and has had much improved play over the last 30 games or so.

Grade: C+

Picard, Alexandre R.

The piece of the Meszaros trade that Murray insisted on apparently. Is this going to be a long term project or will Murray admit his error and move on from him?

Grade: C

Schubert, Christoph

If Schubert had just kept his mouth shut and done as he was told he might have been a fulltime 4th line winger with spot PK duty as a D-man. He played this roll extremely well during the Cup run and could have made a pretty nice career in Ottawa out of it. Instead he whined Wing Dang Doodle and complained and when finally given a shot due to injury he failed miserably as a D-man. He's also been a healthy scratch quite a bit this season

Grade: D-

Smith, Jason

He came on strong right before his unfortunate injury but he also had his struggles during parts of the season. For his price tag he's too much money to spend as a 5th or 6th D man on a team not destined for playoffs.

Grade: C

Volchenkov, Anton

Always working hard and sacrificing the body to block shots. It didn't matter how the team was doing or if no one else seemed to care he was out there risking injury and was in fact injured on a couple of occasions because of it.

Grade: A

Goaltenders:

Elliott, Brian

Despite his numbers and his recent shutout and despite his club rookie goalie record there is still work to do and you can tell he's new to the NHL. The thing is you can't deny the overall record and his numbers either. He's exceeded my expectations.

Grade: A

Auld, Alex

He's come in and been the perfect Backup Goalie. Unfortunately he was relied on to be our Number 1 when Gerber pooped the bed yet again. Auld is good in short spurts and for what he was supposed to do for us he's been good for the most part.

Grade: A-

Good synopsis Clutch.

Good job Clutch,

Notes I had to add...

Alfie also had knee surgery this year and missed a couple of games, that's it! Holy CRAP.

Personally I would drop Chris Kelly, Brendan Bell and Campoli a full grade and raise Lee and Smith a full grade.

Kelly has not been the same player at all this year. His hands are non-existent and he han't been great all year.

Bell is horrible in his own zone. He usually drives hisdefence partner nuts with poor coverage and ill-timed pinches. IThat said he is near league minimum.

Campoli is similar to Bell for me. He has some great nights and some what are you thinking moments. Young guys. But he is cheap and productive.

Smith (I am a fan so this is tempered by that) has done exactly what was asked of him all year. He is usually saddled with a horrible partner and ends up covering for them most nights. He has been tough to play against and was one of the major reasons early intheyear why our Goals against was so low. He is a fearless sot blocker... oh crap I will just write an appreciation post... but I do not think he was a 'C' for me, solid 'B'

Lee is getting dumped on a lot here. I think the reason is his strong play last year vs what seems to be a step back ths year. Personally I think he has a lot of upside. He does a ton of little things well. He makes nice passes that allow players to move out of the zone with speed. He makes some good decisions out there and play a lot of minutes (we are winning with him playing a lot of minutes). He needs some more strength and work in his own zone. But he will b a solid 4th guy in my opinion. I do not think he was the 2nd worst player on the team which a D+ would suggest.

Just my opinion, but good synopsis...

MurderOnIce wrote:Good job Clutch,

Notes I had to add...

Alfie also had knee surgery this year and missed a couple of games, that's it! Holy CRAP.

Personally I would drop Chris Kelly, Brendan Bell and Campoli a full grade and raise Lee and Smith a full grade.

Kelly has not been the same player at all this year. His hands are non-existent and he han't been great all year.

Bell is horrible in his own zone. He usually drives hisdefence partner nuts with poor coverage and ill-timed pinches. IThat said he is near league minimum.

Campoli is similar to Bell for me. He has some great nights and some what are you thinking moments. Young guys. But he is cheap and productive.

Smith (I am a fan so this is tempered by that) has done exactly what was asked of him all year. He is usually saddled with a horrible partner and ends up covering for them most nights. He has been tough to play against and was one of the major reasons early intheyear why our Goals against was so low. He is a fearless sot blocker... oh crap I will just write an appreciation post... but I do not think he was a 'C' for me, solid 'B'

Lee is getting dumped on a lot here. I think the reason is his strong play last year vs what seems to be a step back ths year. Personally I think he has a lot of upside. He does a ton of little things well. He makes nice passes that allow players to move out of the zone with speed. He makes some good decisions out there and play a lot of minutes (we are winning with him playing a lot of minutes). He needs some more strength and work in his own zone. But he will b a solid 4th guy in my opinion. I do not think he was the 2nd worst player on the team which a D+ would suggest.

Just my opinion, but good synopsis...

1 - I forgot about Alfie's Knee surgery until I read the article where he was nominated for the Bill Masterton Trophy - That article actually has him at only missing ONE game for that!!! ONE! I think I need to add another Plus to his grade.

2 - Chris Kelly I will say has struggled at times but look at his production recently and how well he's played under Clouston. This is my justification for his grade.
- Brendan Bell I can see your point but I was generous here because of his improved play under Clouston coupled with his price tag. You can't expect too much right?
- Chris Campoli's grade is based on my expectations of him which were very low but, I do see your point
- Brian Lee - I'm willing to concede I was a bit harsh on him but his score reflects the fact that he struggled in Bingo as well and had some horrible patches mixed with some great moments
- Jason Smith his grade is partially due to price tag as well as being in the bottom pairing and having some struggles through stretches of the season where he looked old and too slow for todays game.

504Heater wrote:Good synopsis Clutch.

Agreed, my only objection is with regards to Ruutu. I'd give him a B+, possibly even an A- as he did what he does, and he did it very well. I can overlook the "incident" and the odd "bad penalty". I really liked what he brought and look forward to his antics next season.

shabbs wrote:

504Heater wrote:Good synopsis Clutch.

Agreed, my only objection is with regards to Ruutu. I'd give him a B+, possibly even an A- as he did what he does, and he did it very well. I can overlook the "incident" and the odd "bad penalty". I really liked what he brought and look forward to his antics next season.

I fully expected that grade to be an issue for some. I personally would have looked passed a suspension but not for biting. IMO without the bite he gets an A. I personally couldn't look past it.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:

shabbs wrote:

504Heater wrote:Good synopsis Clutch.

Agreed, my only objection is with regards to Ruutu. I'd give him a B+, possibly even an A- as he did what he does, and he did it very well. I can overlook the "incident" and the odd "bad penalty". I really liked what he brought and look forward to his antics next season.

I fully expected that grade to be an issue for some. I personally would have looked passed a suspension but not for biting. IMO without the bite he gets an A. I personally couldn't look past it.

Yeah, the biting incident will certainly be a bone of contention for many and really is the only black mark against Ruutu this season from a Sens perspective. I've done some pretty nasty things in sports in my day... so perhaps I can empathize more than some.

Thanks everyone...this is a terrific discussion.

BTW I hope everyone understands I saw the 'Report Card' idea as an evaluation/opinion simply of this season's play.

It's not meant as a dismissal of any player's talent or character, and most definitely not an expression of personal dislike for any of them.

These guys are pros, and while we as fans exercise our presumed privilege to critique them, I think we agree Ottawa is fortunate to have an NHL team. Seeing the world's best hockey players perform in our backyard is pretty darn special.

shabbs wrote:

504Heater wrote:Good synopsis Clutch.

Agreed, my only objection is with regards to Ruutu. I'd give him a B+, possibly even an A- as he did what he does, and he did it very well. I can overlook the "incident" and the odd "bad penalty". I really liked what he brought and look forward to his antics next season.

I meant to say this earlier but I'm actually impressed that the only change you would have made is to Ruutu's score. I guess great minds think alike :D